Merry Christmas! Seasons Greetings! Happy Holidays!

What a wonderful time - I am sitting up in my sewing room watching the snow come down by the street light outside. Everything is still and it is very quiet.  I have those wonderful dogs snoozing in various parts of the room and all is still. I have been stitching on some of my last gifts and then just the wrapping of presents is all that is left.  I hope that all of you can grab a few minutes to enjoy the quiet during this busy and sometimes stressful time of the year.

To remind you of just a couple of things.. We will be closed on Sunday the 23rd and then the 24th and 25th but will fling the doors wide open on the 26th with some wonderful goodies on sale.. I am not sure what that will be yet but I have time... If you have an emergency on the 24th I will be in the store I am sure in the morning..  sorting through something or another!!!!!


And now to share some of the wonderful things that our club members have been doing this past month.  In our English Paper Piecing Club meeting we saw this wonderful Southern Star quilt. Pictures seldom do our quilts justice and this picture may be like that but the colours and their combinations were magnificent.

 Our Small Quilt Club (session 1) finished their first projects in good time - and as you can see below each one had its own character based on fabric selections.  The shop model is up and kitted if you are unable to make the sewins but would like to be a part of this group.  The second session almost made it!!! some were finished but not quilted and bound - I am sure next month they will be the first to finish!!!  

 We also had a challenge out to the embroidery club to make this sampler before December 31st. and those samplers are coming in fast and furious.. so what you will see is their samplers in the store and you will need to vote on the one you like the best during the month of January!The one with the most votes will  win a gift certificate!  So look out for them in January and if you would like to be a part of the next challenge let us know. 

December 5th 2012

I am soo excited today we have had a lot going on in the store but guess what .... Jo Morton's new book "For All Seasons " just arrived.. I just took it out of the box. Although I should be at the English Paper Piecing Club meeting downstairs I just had to get on the blog to let you know. It is lovely - we will making up many of her projects.

And then if that is not enough we also have the lovely Quiltmania magazine! Lots of reading and oohing and aahing!! If you want a copy call us or email as they will not last long..

The Generals Wives!

Good morning everyone- we have been moving the store samples around and having fun with the new models we have.... And as we were doing this we found two complete kits of the generals wives quilt! So if you did not make the Block of the month but might like to still make it now is your chance. It measures about 100x100 and with an additional border increase would fit even the largest of King size beds! Let us know if you would like one!

Feathers and Flowers English Paper Pieced

We have a quilt in the show Lynnae did a beautiful job and Sharon a great job quilting it. Go girls !!!

Lauritzen Garden Quilt Show

If you have a few minutes this weekend come on our to the Gardens in Omaha - the show is gorgeous lots of beautiful quilts!

This is the store model for "This Goes with That " English Paper Pieced"

Finally our store model is here! We put the blocks onto a black background- thank you to all who helped with that decision ... It will be in the store by the weekend!

Our newest English Paper pieced model!

In case you did not see this on Our booth at Des Moines - here is the lovely Feathers and Flowers quilt - stop in the store to see it real life! If course it has a kit!!

Thursday September 27th Small Quilt Group Projects! So the first meeting occurred yesterday and we had so much fun. We are working on Lori Smith's small quilts and these blocks below are the first ones to be completed... yay! nope not one of them is mine - I decided to try my hand at foundation paper piecing - I took a little bit longer - getting one done the entire day... I did have a couple of other things to finish up!

I think this might have been the very first one completed.. I like the fussy cutting .... so now we shall have to see what the second group can accomplish ... we have two groups one on the last Wednesday of the month and the other on the second Wednesday of the month. Thank you ladies for such a fun day....

Update on the "This Goes with That" store sample D-Day - 8 days

In our last month's English Paper Piecing club meeting I told everyone that I would have this done for October's meeting. That meeting is next week so here we are .........D- Day minus 8 days........almost done!

Another view - all those black triangles that are standing up still need to be sewn down!!!! I am hoping that I make it - perhaps it will be on the Long Arm machine for you to see next week???   

Good morning! I wanted to show you some new fabrics that have recently arrived in the store.

More of our wonderful 30"s fabric colors include blues!

Purples and yellow!

Gorgeous pinks

and some more blues....... together with the solid centennial fabrics from Marcus they look terrific!

For those of you who like large prints with a more modern look - this fabric in from Blank is lovely

more fun and color from Blank fabrics....

The challenge went up last month at the English Paper Piecing Club meeting that we needed name tags! So make one using EPP - some of us were not quite as focused as we should have been and are still working or thinking about our name tag but then others got right down to it.. the first pic is the serious over achiever but look how clever!

Here was the front runner - a 3D name tag made out of dresdens some bling - yes I said bling and oh yes it did have her name on it also!! Well done Diane.. We loved it and now it is up to the rest of us to meet or beat this imagination.. !!

I guess I only took half of a picture here as the name tag was only half completed!! That sounds almost like I planned it but you know I did not - just a poor photographer.. But it is going to be cute when it is finished..

A clever pincushion made by one of the talented members of the group -  this pic may not do the fussy cutting enough justice but Rita has been clever with her cutting of the fabric to get this effect. 

Diane does it again.. a great table topper all English paper pieced. 

The first blocks for the PIES and TARTS  block of the month. Kimberly shared with us what she had completed and they look terrific..

One Year Later! I could not help but chuckle at the difference..

 We added some fixtures! We added some wool! and more and more fabric 

 The store models now cover the walls and even overlap in some places

 The back wall is full of club news, classes, and models

 The Mill Girls Block of the Month sample - which begins this month we have increased our fabric orders to accommodate the requests to join the program and so we do have a couple of openings still if you are interested.

Flash Back - A year ago and a couple of months! So as I was surfing through my pictures on my computer - I found thse pictures can you guess what they are of?

 Yes you are correct this is the in Omaha when we opened in May of 2011 - I laughed out loud !!

 Yes this was our preview party! Not so much in this store ......

But it did look cute from the outside.... the next posts will show how we are looking today!

The English Paper Piecers - last week we were looking at the Fussy Cut Club: This Goes with That quilt to see the progress wow!

This is the French General line and the quilt is being made from those fabrics. Just beautiful

This is going to be the store model! We were deciding which fabric we should use for the background based on the scrappy nature of the blocks. Black won out!

Some more hexies in the making  - gorgeous pinks and browns and speaking of which take a look at our new look!

We are working on a new look - what do you think?... traditional but fun: bright but subdued: playful but serious !!!!

So this is why I did not drive but was a focused co-pilot!!

We had to go and see a man about a boat - actually my good friend Becki and her husband had been boat sitting for us - so yes this little thing is for sale if you know anyone who needs a fishing boat with more road miles on it than sea miles..

Yes that is me - and remember I am not as small as Vanna White but I am dwarfed by this rig

Although I don't think you can zoom into this picture never fear it says HANCOCKS OF PADUCAH!!! A little stop on the way so I could take a break from my English Paper Piecing.. hahahahah!!!!

Happy Fourth of July - Independence Day 2012

So I love fireworks and the 4th of July is a great holiday celebrating our Independence - but from whom... oh yes those Brits.. but when I was growing up we celebrated Thanksgiving on this date not in November.....  just KIDDING...... we did not celebrate either holiday - funny how that is.. but I love to do it now.. So this year I was on the road for a couple of days providing moral support to my husband who drove to Panama City Florida and back about 36 hours of driving in 4 days  in a minute you will see why I did not drive - I had to work on my EPP but the rig  was a bit big for me. 

The Omaha Quilt Show - 2012 a few pics of our booth

We were able to complete some of our quilts that no one had seen in the store - our version of the Rotogravure or as we affectionately refer to it  - the pumpkin quilt....It is hanging in the store now and is magnificent - Sharon did a great job with both the piecing and the quilting. It is kitted and is being run as a block of the month so if you are interested come in or call and get signed up for it..  

A little bit of English Paper Piecing and a lot of log cabins.... but I was so happy how this turned out Lynn our new employee as of next Monday made this and it is stunning. You all were very kind and had some very nice things to say about it.

Pies and Tarts - English Paper Piecing not a little but a lot. Block of the month beginning soon - we will kit based on the color way as this quilt is from Australia and the fabrics maybe a little difficult to get.. Let us know if you would like to be a part of this program - the quilt is hanging in the store for you to see in real life!!